Bill ‘will force naturists to go undercover’

Naturists fear they will be forced to stop stripping off on beaches and parks as an unintended consequence of proposals designed to tackle yobbish behaviour.

MPs will today debate the second reading of a Bill which will give police and local authorities new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

However, naturists have warned that the Bill, which was announced in the Queen’s Speech, will make it easier for public nudity to be prosecuted because its definition of anti-social behaviour is too broad. The legislation defines the term as “conduct capable of causing nusiance or annoyance to any person”.

Malcolm Boura, of British Naturism, said he believed it would be used to prohibit public nudity, even in beaches and parks currently designated for naturists’ use.